Reducing average number of turbo decoding iterations

The average number of decoding iterations in a turbo decoder is reduced by incorporating CRC error detection into the decoding iteration process. Turbo decoding iterations are stopped when CRC decoding determines that there is no error in the decoded data sequence. Computer simulations assuming a turbo-coded W-CDMA mobile radio reverse link under frequency selective Rayleigh fading demonstrate that when the maximum number of iterations is 8, the average number of decoding iterations can be reduced to 1/4 at BER=10^-6